Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No.25 in C, K.503
Interval
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.1 (vers. standard in 4 movements)

Two expansive and powerful masterpieces, directed by the inimitable Charles Dutoit.

Louis Lortie performs Mozart's Piano Concerto No.25, with its impressive scale and enthralling contrasts between light and shade. Mahler told Sibelius that 'the symphony must be like the world, it must embrace everything'. Mahler's First Symphony '(initially subtitled the 'Titan') does just that, opening with spacious sounds evoking nature waking up. After a dancing second movement comes the brilliantly macabre third, in which a minor-key rendition of Frère Jacques - begun on double-bass - contrasts eerily with brash marching music. The glorious finale resolves these conflicts, its final bars among the most dazzling and life-affirming ever written.

Performers

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Charles Dutoit conductor
Louis Lortie piano

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